After 3 weeks in the work area in Indiantown, we were glad to be in the water on Friday, Dec. 6 and on our way to Stuart on Monday, December 9. We were up at 6 a.m. and left the dock at 7:45 a.m. for Sunset Bay Marina's moorings. We had a great motor boat ride up the St. Lucie canal, light SE breeze, clear blue sky. We arrived at the lock and the green light was on so we went right in and grabbed the lock keepers lines to hold us to the wall while we lowered 14 1/2 feet. Since it was low tide we encountered very shallow water at the Palm City bridge, so low that a passing trawler going west hailed us to forewarn us. We slowed our speed and did just fine. No problem with the bridge height either. We arrived at the mooring field to find almost all the balls were taken. There were 3 empty ones and we grabbed #29 and tied up. Den got the motor off the stern and out jumped 3 tree frogs

. A gentle shove landed them in the water and a gull swooped down and grabbed the squirming creature and took off with 2 other gulls in hot pursuit. That's the food chain for you. We got into the dingy and went ashore to meet Dave & Linda, friends we met 5 years ago in Stuart. Dave needed to go to a storage facility in town to pick up his inflatable dingy and needed help hoisting it up onto the roof of his car. So Denny said he'd help him in exchange for a ride back to Indiantown so we could pick up our car with our bikes in the back seat. So off we went. He helped them unload the dingy back in Indiantown and then we picked up our car and we were off to Sunset Bay in Stuart (20 miles from here). On the way we encountered a blockade and detour on the same road we were just on. There were ambulances, police vehicles, orange cones and fire trucks. We were routed around it several miles and ended up back on the right road only to see a huge cloud of smoke on the roadway. We are still waiting to find out what happened. We stopped for a quick lunch since we hadn't eaten all day then on to meet up with Dave & June Piley at the Deck marina for a quick beer. They keep their Cape Dory 19 there. We'll stay at Sunset Bay marina for the next month and then try for points further south. See you later to Indiantown and their wonderful staff and fellow cruisers and all the tree frogs, mosquitoes, and fire ants. We'll see you again soon.We've been working very hard these last 3 weeks and are so very glad to be able to relax a little. One picture included and more on the way.